Job 15:23
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He wanders about as food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Perhaps Job was so clear, and so well satisfied, in the goodness of his own cause, that he thought, if he had not convinced, yet he had at least silenced all his three friends; but, it seems he had not: in this chapter they begin a second attack upon him, each of them charging him afresh with as much vehemence as before. It is natural to us to be fond of our own sentiments, and therefore to be firm to them, and with difficulty to be brought to recede from them. Eliphaz here keeps close to the principles upon which he had condemned Job, and, I. He reproves him for justifying himself, and fathers on him many evil things which are unfairly inferred thence (Job 15:2-13). II. He persuades him to humble himself before God and to take shame to himself (Job 15:14-16). III. He reads him a long lecture concerning the woeful estate of wicked people, who harden their hearts against God and the judgments which are prepared for them (v. 17-35). A good use may be made both of his reproofs (for they are plain) and of his doctrine (for it is sound), though both the one and the other are misapplied to Job.
Open source ↗15:23 They wander around, saying, “Where can I find bread?”: Like the wicked (15:20), Job either experienced hunger (see 15:27) or (following the Greek Old Testament) had been “appointed to be food for a vulture,” which would parallel “marked for the sword” (15:22).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
They scavenge for food, and growl if they are not satisfied.
His strength is depleted, and calamity is ready at his side.
So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.
Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
He is driven from light into darkness and is chased from the inhabited world.